Hull-board construction



J. E. MITCHELL AND D. PARKS.

J. E. MITCHELL AND D. PARKS.

HULL BOARD CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1919.

Patented July 27, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. f

JOHN E. MITCHELL AND DENNIS, PARKS, on ST. LOUIS, Mrssormr.

HULL-BOARD CONSTRUCTION.

7 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, J OHN E. MITCHELL and Dennis PARKS, citizens of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Hull-Board Construction, of which the following is a specification. I I V This invention relates to improvements in boll breaking and cotton separating machines of the single hull board type, and has for its general object the provision of improved means for preventing congestion in the working chamber of the machine.

In a companion application, having the same object in view, we have shown a construction whereby, in the'operation of the machine, the hull board is periodically moved to widen the openingbetween its lower edge and the saw cylinder, to permit the free escape from the working chamber of the products'that have accumulated therein, together with mechanism coordinating the movement of the hull boardwith the feeding mechanism, tothe' end that'the feed of bolls and cotton to the machine may be stopped before the hull board is .moved to the discharge posit-ion, and the hull board be restored to its normal position before the feed is resumed.

In the present case we retain the principle of periodically moving the hull board to discharge the contents ofthe working chamber,

'but in place of coordinating the-movement of the hull board with the feeding mechanism, we provide for discharging the contentsof the working chamber. when the 'li-llll board is moved for this purpose. into a separate compartment from that receiving the normal discharge of the working chaml r. so that any unopened bolls or cotton particles discharged from theworking chamber may be returned to the main. battery of the machines for retreatment, or else be sent to a recleaning machine. 7

h invention,- therefore, resides in a boll breaking and'cotton cleaning machine aftording a working chamber in which the separating mechanism operates: ahull board, the lower end of which defines the size of an opening past a member of the separating mechanism to permit of the continuous discharge of bulls and waste from the working chamber; means for periodically moving the hull board to widen said opening to permit of discharging accumulated products from the working chamber, and means operating Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 27 1920 Application file-d March 29, 1919. Sean No. 285.996.

simultaneously with the movement of thehull board to shuntthe products so discharged from the working chamber to a different location, or compartment of the machine, from that receiving the normal discharge from the working chamber. 7

Stated more in detail the invention resides,

in its-preferred embodiment, in a machine of the class described havlng two separate compartments, and a movable valve connected to the hull board, which','in the operative posi-- tion of the hull board, causes the normal discharge from the working chamber of the machine to pass to one compartment, and, when the hull board is moved to discharge the contents of the working chamber, is moved to a position to cause the discharged products to of the machine is a partition 10 extending between said conveyers and providing compartments 11 and 12 forreceivmg products from the working chamber, as hereinafter explained. The upper part of the machine provides a hopper 13-into' which'the gathered bolls are thrown and the raw product is fed by the feed rolls 2; 3' into a chamber 14, inwvliich the boll breaking cylinder .4:

operates, the latter serving to break apart' the bolls :and dischargetbe mixed cotton and hulls resulting through an outlet '15 into a working chamber 16. In this working chamberthe cotton is caught up by a kicker roll 6, which op erates to knock back -hull particles carried up by the cotton. The

cotton carried through by the saw-cylinder is removed by the dofl'er roll 7 and discharged through an outlet 17. The numeral.

saw cylinder 5 and carried beneath the the agitation occurring in the boll breaking chamber. The numeral 19 indicates the hull board, which occupies an mchned position relative to the saw Cylinder and operates, as well understood, to cause themixed cotton and hulls to be fed downward toward the saw cylinder, so that the cotton may be caught up by the'same. TliGlOWGI end of this hull board is located at a dis tance from the saw cylinder to provide a passage 20, through which the hull particles, trash, and the like, may escape and fall into the compartment 11 to be conveyed out ofthe machine by the conveyer 8, when the pare-rare in the position shown'by the full lines in Fig. 2. In the companion application referred to we have set forth the objections to the use of a single stationary hull board, and have disclosed the use of a movable hull board, whereby the working (311M111 .ber may be periodically emptied to free it from accumulhted products. The same principle of-operation is retained in. the present case, and in addition we have embodied in the hull board construction means 1 for shunting the discharged products, when the working cham'ber'is emptiechto a different part of the machine'i'rom that receiving the normal discharge from the working chamber. This construction will now be described. 7 1

'The hull board 19 is pivotally mounted at its upperend, as indicated at 21, between the side members of the casing, sothat its low-er endmay be movedtowa-rd and from thesaw cylindere, Located beneath the hull board is a cam" roller 22 provided in its'periphery witha recess;28 afl?ording a cam surface 24;. Secured on the under side of the hull board is a plate 25 having a rearwardly projecting lug 26 which, in the normal position of the hull board shown in full linesin Fig. 2,-rests upon the surface of the roller '18, and, when the recess 23 passes under sa id'lug, falls into said recess, thereby' allowing the hull boardto swing awayfrom the saw cylinderand automatically widen the opening 21). .As the cam continues'to revolve, the cam surface 24 engages the lug 26 and gradually'raises the hull'boaiiiluntil the lug again rests on the periphery of said roller. Formed integral vwithithe plate 25, or otherwise secured to ;the hull board 19, 18 an arm 27,.progect1ng i a considerable distance below the lower end of said hull board; Pivotally. connected at 28"tothe lower endof this arni-is one end of a rod 29, the other end of' which is pivotally connected at 30 inia bearing formed'on a plate 31 secured on one side of'a vertically-disposed valve 32. The valve 32 ex tends transverselyof theinachine from'one side wall to the other, and is preferably tapered from its lower to its upper edge, the

' lower edge being rounded to work in a cup- 56' shaped recess-33 formed on the uppenedge oi' the partition 10; The pivot 30 is located.

below the vertical center of the valve 32, and as the lower end 'of'the arm 27 will have a greater are of movement than the lower edge of the hull board 19, these comthrough said passage will be compelled to,

fall into the compartment 11. In the open Normally, the upper position of the hull board, shown by dotted lines,hthe upper edge of the swinging valve will be thrown outward, orin the opposite direction, beyond a vertical line passing through the passage 20, or, in other words, beyond the lower edge of the hull board 19, so. that any products passing through the widened space between the hull board and the saw cylinder will be-directed by the valve into the compartment 12. Y i

In the operation of the machine, a certain number of bells will escape from-the bollbreaking chamber through thepassage 15 without being brokenapart by the cylinder 4, and as these unopened bolls are too large to pass through the opening 20, in the operative position of the hull board, they gradually accumulate in the working chamber and in time will cause a congestion therein, if some means be not provided for getting rid of them. This object of preventing congestion in the workingchamber is accomplished by periodically discharg- V 1 ing the contents of the working chamber by the movement of the hull board described.

The bolls. discharged into the compartment 12 will be discharged from the machine by the conveyerf9, and may be conducted to a separate recleaningmachine or back to the main battery ofthe machines on the gins.v

The cam roller 22 is mounted on a rod 35' projecting through the casing at one side and having secured thereon a ratchet wheel '36. The shaft 37 ofthe saw cylinder also .1

projects through the same side of the casing asthe rod-.35, and is provided with a" crank-pin 38 on which is pivotally mounted a hub 38 having an integral socket-member 38 and-an "integral crank arm 39 which has pivotally mounted on-its outer end, at. 40, two ratchets, 41 and 42, respectively, connected bya spring 43. In the rotation of the shatt'37 the ratchets 41 and 42 will be operated by thearm 39 to alternately pull and push the ratchet wheel-36to cause them to rotate and thereby rotate the cam roller 22. The shafts 44 and 45 ofthe feed rolls 2 and 3 also project through the same side wall of the casing as the rod 35 and shaft 37,- and have secured on their projecting ends gears 46 and '47, respectively,- which are in mesh with each other. Secured on the end of the shaft 44 is a ratchet wheel 48, which is adapted to be actuated by a ratchet 1o 49 pivotally mounted on the upper end of an arm 50 of a bell-crank lever 15, which is pivotally mounted on the end of the shaft 45. A second arm 52 of this bell-crank lever is provided on its end with an apertured lug 5 53, through which extends loosely the upper end of a pitman rod 54, the upper end portion of which is screw-threaded to receive adjusting nuts 55, and below the lug 53 is provided with a bumper 56, which is piv- 2o otally mounted at 57 on a block 58 secured on the pitman rod 54. The lower end of the pitman rod is secured in the socketmember 38, previously referred to. As the shaft 37 revolves the crank pin 38 will cause the pitman rod 54 to be alternately raised and lowered. In its upward movement the bumper 56 will engage the lug 53 and rock the bell-crank lever 51 and thereby move the ratchet 49 backward over the teeth of the ratchet wheel 48. As the pitman rod moves downward the lower adjusting nut 55 will engage the lug 53 and thereby rock the bell crank lever in the opposite direction causing the ratchet 49 to rotate said ratchet wheel, which in turn'will result in rotating the ratchets 41 and 42 through the medium of the gears 46 and 47 By turning the bumper 56 downward on its pivot 57, so that it will not engage the lug 58, the operation of the feed rolls can be discontinued at any time without otherwise stopping the operation of the machine.

It will be seen that in the present arrangement the feed is oncontinuously, and as the ,5 dumping operation, effected by the movement of the hull board, occurs at each revolution of the cam shaft without the feed being shut off, it is obvious that some cotton of value will be dumped along with the bolls. To prevent the waste of cotton which would otherwise occur if this discharged product were sent to the conveyer 8 to be conveyed to the hull pile, We provide the construction described, whereby the product discharged .35 in the dumping operation is maintained separate from the hulls and waste normally discharged from the working chamber. It will be understood that in the normal position of the parts shown in full lines in Fig. 60 2, the space 20 is wide enough to permit the free discharge of the separated hulls from the working chamber without permitting escape of any cotton of value.

We claim z+ r l. A boll breaking and cotton separating machine affording a working chamber for therefrom.

2. Agbollbreaking and cotton separating machineaffording a working chamber for receiving the mixed cotton and hulls to be separated and having an outlet for hulls, cotton separating mechanism including a saw cylinder operating in said chamber, a hull board coiiperating with said saw cylinder, the bottom of which defines the size of an opening past the saw cylinder for the escape of hulls, means operating periodically to move said hull board to widen said openingto discharge accumulated products from said chamber, and means operating to separately deliver such discharged products from the hulls normally escaping through said opening.

3. A machine according to claim 2, in which the separate delivery of the products isefl'ected by a swinging valve connected to the hull board and movable therewith to provide different paths of discharge for the products of the working chamber in the operative and discharge positions of the hull board, respectively.

4. A machine according to claim 2, in which the separate delivery of the products is effected by a'swinging valve connected to the hull board in such manner that the movement of the free end of the valve will be multiplied as compared. with the move ment of the lower end of the hull board, so 1 5' that said valve will be moved to provide different paths of discharge for the prodnets of the working chamber in the operative and discharge positions of the hull board, respectively.

5. A machine according to claim 2, having in its bottom portion two compartments, and in which the separate delivery of the product iseffected by a swinging valve adapted to be positioned to open a path of discharge from the working chamber to either of said compartments and to close it to the other, and in which said valve is positioned by a member projecting down-' wardly from the hull board and pivotally connected to said valve nearer its pivot than its free end, whereby the movement of the free end of the valve, caused by the move ment of the'hull board, will be multiplied as compared with the movement of the lower end of the hull board.

6. A boll breaking and cotton separating machine affordinga working chamber, cotton separating mechanism operating therein including a saw cylinder, a pivotally g; V V v 1 34 8931 mounted hull board, the lower end of which the latter the: upper end, of said valve will ,d'efinesthe size of an opening past said sav; be turned to; one side or the other with recylinder forthedischarge of hulls, said spect to, said opening to'provide difierent hull board being periodically movable in the paths of; discharge according; as the hull 5 operation of the machine" to widen said boa-rd isin its normalj-or discharge position. 15 opening to discharge-accumulated products In" testimony whereof we have hereunto from the Working chamber, a vertically-disset our hands. 7

V posed, swinging valve located belowsaid .7 I a I V 7 opening and pivotally connected with said n I 7 JOHN E. MITCHELL.

'1'0 hull board, whereby in the movelnent of r v I DENNIS PARKS. 

